NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Murray State women pulled off the biggest upset in OVC Tournament history Wednesday as the eighth-seeded Racers defeated the No. 1 seed UT Martin, 78-76 in the First Round at Municipal Auditorium. MSU becomes the first No. 8 seed to defeat the top seed in tournament history, since the league moved to an eight-team format in 1997.
The Racers (12-16) played with great energy and heart the entire game and led most of the way. MSU jumped out to an early lead, coming out of the gate with an 11-2 advantage. After the Skyhawks (21-9) were able to battle back and take a brief lead, the Racers got an offensive putback, three-point play from Ke’Shunan James to end the quarter with a 19-17 lead.
MSU controlled the game for much of the second quarter as well, leading by as many as eight, 27-19 with 8:26 to play after a Jashae Lee 3-pointer. UTM again responded to take a late lead in the quarter, before the Racers went on another mini run to end the period and led 40-39 at halftime.
The second half began with a back-and-forth affair as the third period featured two ties and five lead changes with neither team either to gain much ground on the other. MSU had a five-point advantage twice in the quarter and led 60-58 heading into the fourth.
Trailing 63-62 with 7:50 left to play in the game, the Racers went on their biggest run of the game, outscoring the Skyhawks 12-0 in a little under three minutes to build a 74-63 lead with 4:33 left to play. UTM would respond again, scoring five quick points in just 22 seconds to trim the MSU advantage to 74-68. After the two teams traded 3-pointers, the Skyhawks made it 77-76 in favor of the Racers with just 1:55 left to play.
With 22 seconds left to play, James grabbed one of her six offensive rebounds and was fouled with 19 seconds left to play and went to the free throw line, where she made 1-of-2 to put MSU up 78-76. Jessy Ward’s corner 3-pointer to win the game with one second left for UTM came up short and the Racers had stunned the league.
James led MSU’s balanced offensive attack with a game-high 20 points on 7-for-12 shooting, including 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. James also grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds in the win and dished-out five assists. It was James’ fifth double-double effort of the year. Abria Gulledge and Jashae Lee each added 14 points and a pair of 3-pointers and Jasmine Borders scored 13.
MSU shot 45.2 percent from the floor in the win and went 14-of-38 (36.8 percent) from 3-point range and was 8-for-9 at the free throw line. UTM shot an even 50 percent and was 10-of-27 from beyond the arc and 4-for-6 at the line.
The Skyhawks held a 36-30 edge in the rebounding battle and had a 36-24 advantage in paint points. However, MSU outscored UT Martin 21-20 in points off of turnovers after being outscored by the Skyhawks by a combined 58-18 in points off turnovers in the two losses during the regular season. The Racer bench also had a 23-22 edge in scoring and MSU doubled-up the Skyhawks 14-7 on second-chance points.
The Racers advance to the semifinals of the OVC Tournament for the first time since 2012, where they lot to UTM. MSU will face the winner of Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee State noon on Friday.